


Favours

by jell_0_shot



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-23 01:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15594867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jell_0_shot/pseuds/jell_0_shot
Summary: Ben asks Leslie, a complete stranger, to do a huge favour for him. And it changes both of their lives.





	1. Chapter 1

Ben had done many stupid things in his life. This was definitely becoming one of the stupidest.

A car pulled up beside him and he could feel the eyes of the driver on him. He knew he looked ridiculous - huffing as he paced back and forth next to his car in the JJ's Diner parking lot. Ben flicked his eyes into the car as the ignition turned off and saw a lady talking excitedly into a tape recorder. People still use tape recorders? She seemed... flouncy. Ben felt the exact opposite of flouncy. He pushed his back against his own car door and closed his eyes, praying for a solution to just appear out of thin air.

"Hi - I'm sorry but are you okay?"

Ben opened his eyes. The tape recorder woman had gotten out of her car and was standing in front of him. She was small and blonde, and had a helpful smile on her face that irritated him.

"What?" He didn't mean to snap. "Yes, I'm fine."

Ben really did wish he wasn't such a jerk, it was just that upbeat people reminded him of his own misery.

"Alright then, if you're sure." She replied, her cheeriness dampened slightly. She turned to leave, and that was when he realised: sure, she was blonde and bubbly and not at all his type, but she _was_ a woman.

"Hey, uh..." He called out, hoping he hadn't ruined his chance. "I'm sorry, I'm just really stressed. I actually do need a really big favour, if you wouldn't mind?"

She spun back around, and Ben noticed that her curls bounced as she did. There was a sparkle in her eyes, "Sure, doing favours for people is one of my favourite things."

"Oh, perfect." He tried to smile warmly and held out his hand, which she shook. "I'm Ben, by the way. I just really need someone - well, you - to pretend to be my girlfriend for about an hour."

The woman in front of him scrunched her brows, but she was still smiling, "What?"

"My mother is in there right now." He pointed to JJ's. "She's waiting for me to introduce her to my girlfriend."

"Okay, so where's you girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend."

She hesitated, "So why does she think you do?"

"I told her I did."

Her brows remained furrowed in confusion, "I'm sorry - you told your mother that you were in a relationship when you weren't?"

Ben nodded, desperately. 

"Why?"

Ben shifted his weight to his other foot and sighed. The idea of telling this woman his sob story was nauseating, but he really needed her help. "I moved here three years ago after a really bad break up, you know - to start fresh. But I still don't have any real friends and I keep missing out on promotions at work. I just... I wanted her to think I was doing okay in at least one aspect of my life."

She took a moment to take in what he'd said, her eyes on his the entire time. She looked a little nervous, and she was chewing her lip.

"I don't know anything about you. What if she asks me something a girlfriend would know?" She finally spoke.

"Well, my name is Ben Wyatt. I'm originally from Minnesota, I work at an accounting firm and I live on Cedar Ave. Uh, we've been dating for eight months, at least that's what I told my mother. Oh, and your name is Jessica." He looked at her, hopeful.

She narrowed her eyes, "This is never going to work. And my name is Leslie."

"That sounds like a yes?"

 

* * *

 

 

Leslie still wasn't entirely sure how she'd managed to get herself into this situation. She was sitting in a booth across from the mother of the stranger she had just agreed to be the fake girlfriend of. In her defense - no, actually, there was no way to defend this. This was crazy.

Gosh, what would Ann say.

Mrs Wyatt - who had insisted that Leslie call her Julia - seemed a little unhinged but it was covered in layers of charm. She had asked Leslie a bunch of questions; all of them were friendly but Leslie still felt like she was defusing bombs left, right and centre. She wasn't sure what was annoying her more - the way Ben kept touching her arm to seem like they were a real couple, or the thankful glances he'd send her way when Julia wasn't looking. Sure, she liked helping people, but she was meant to be curled up in bed eating waffles right now. Instead she was here, eating pasta and answering to the name Jessica.

"So, Jessica, Ben's never mentioned what it is that you do?"

"Oh, I'm the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation department. It's the best job in the world." Leslie beamed.

Wait - should she have lied?

Ben watched her face light up momentarily. He couldn't help but stare at her with genuine interest, "That's really interesting." She shot him a warning look masked in a smile. "I mean, it's really interesting, Mom. Jess is really good at her job."

He squeezed her knee the way a proud boyfriend would. She hated that she didn't hate it.

"It sounds wonderful, Jessica.

The conversation went stale and Leslie started to feel uncomfortably hot. How much longer was this going to go on for? Ben excused himself to go to the bathroom. God, she could kill him. Both Leslie and Julia watched Ben as he walked to the other side of the room, and then Julia lowered her voice.

"Is he doing okay?"

Leslie was startled by the shift in tone. She could see the concern in Julia's eyes and felt overwhelmed with a need to ease that worry.

"Oh yes, definitely. Things were a little rocky for him when we first met, but he seems to be doing great now. Not that I'm trying to take credit for that, but -" Leslie wasn't very good at lying at the best of times.

Julia smiled at her and it felt important. She reached out and took Leslie's hand in her own, "I'm so happy he's found you."

God, was that a tear in her eye?

"Oh, yes..." Leslie trailed off, looking desperately to see if Ben was coming back yet.

"You know what? You two should visit me in Minnesota sometime. I know Steph and Henry would love to see Ben - it's been so long, you know - and they're going to be so excited to meet you." There was an excitement building in Julia's voice, and she was still holding onto Leslie's hand.

Oh boy.

"That would be lovely." Leslie had no idea who Steph and Henry were. Pet dogs?

"What would be lovely?" Ben slipped back into the booth next to Leslie. Julia let go of her hand.

"I was just saying to Jessica how lovely it would be if the two of you visited me in Minnesota."

"Oh." Ben was struggling to remain composed, "That  _would_ be lovely."

Something tightened inside of Leslie's stomach and settled there for the rest of the meal. There were no major slip-ups, just a brief moment where Ben almost called her Leslie. She found herself insisting that she'd cover the bill. Something about Julia coming all this way to meet her so of course she'd pay tumbled out of her mouth, and she had to follow through. Julia hugged her tightly and waited off to the side.

"I told her you were getting your own way home because you have an early start tomorrow."

"I do have an early start tomorrow." Leslie couldn't help the irritation she felt towards this stupidly handsome man that had completely ruined her evening.

"Oh right, sorry." He seemed truly uncomfortable for the first time all night. "Well - thank you so much for helping me out tonight. I owe you big time."

Leslie sort of reveled in his discomfort, and it softened him a little bit. "That's okay. Honestly, this isn't the weirdest way I've ever spent an evening with a stranger."

Ben cocked his head, amused.

"Ugh, it's definitely not whatever you're thinking."

The pair shared a laugh.

"You do owe me $57.50, though." She handed him the receipt. 

Ben nodded, "Of course. Sorry again, for all of this." He looked over his shoulder quickly and clocked that Julia was barely pretending to not watch. "Is it okay if I give you a quick goodbye kiss? Cheek only." He gestured towards Julia. 

Leslie nodded, so he did, and then he said "See you soon, babe" loud enough for his mother to hear. She waved at them both as they walked out of the door, and waited for his car to drive off before she finally ordered her waffles.

She felt out of sorts, grumpy - uncharacteristically so - but also giddy. Grumpiddy. Oh, she'd have to text that new word to Ann. As she waited, her eyes landed on the booth she'd just shared with Ben and his mother. She thought about how he had laced his fingers with hers as they'd walked into the diner, how he had so naturally placed his hand on the small of her back as she'd described how they'd fake met, how easily he'd called her babe. She felt angry about the rush of colour to her cheeks.

 _It's okay,_ she told herself,  _you never have to see him again._


	2. Chapter 2

There was a loud, hurried knock on Ben's door. It somehow managed to sound sweet  _and_ frustrated. When he opened it, he found Leslie in a red coat with her back to him. She was looking out into the street.

"Oh, hi Leslie."

Leslie turned around at his voice and looked kind of relieved. "Hi Ben. I just came here to get that money you owe me."

Her voice was high-pitched and it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of her reasoning for coming here. Ben tried not to smile too much.

"How do you know where I live?"

"Well, you said you lived on Cedar so I just, you know, knocked on all of the houses until I found you."

"Of course." Ben chucked. She'd said it as if that was a totally normal thing to do.

"So... the money?"

Ben opened the door further and she stepped inside. He had thought about Leslie a little bit over the last few days and it had kind of bugged him. She'd gotten into his head and he couldn't help but be fascinated by this odd woman - she could be so charming and warm, yet she mostly just seemed irritated and... well,  _off,_ whenever she was talking to him. He couldn't blame her, really.

"I hope it's okay that I came here. I thought maybe you would have found a way to get the money back to me, but..." She let the words fill the air pointedly.

"I get the feeling you don't like me very much." Ben noted as he looked for his wallet.

Leslie had crossed over to the other side of the room and was flicking through his vinyl collection, "I don't think I do." It was as if she didn't realise she'd said the words out loud and quickly apologised.

"It's okay." Ben said, wallet now in hand. "Is there a reason why?"

She hesitated, "Something about you bugs me, but I can't put my finger on what it is."

Ben made his way over to where she was and lent against the wall beside her. She looked at him once she'd finished talking, perhaps to figure it out. He smirked. 

"Oh, there is it. You seem a little cocky."

"I do?" He'd never gotten that one before. Cold, distant, unfeeling - he'd heard them all. But cocky?

She folded her arms, "Yes, you do. You always look at me like you know exactly what I'm thinking. And the other day - you just assumed that I, the first woman you stumbled upon, would throw away her entire evening just to pretend to be your fake girlfriend because you're too scared to tell your mother that you're miserable."

"Ouch." Ben tried to stop smirking, "But you did."

"I know I did, but -" She exhaled. "You're being a jerk."

The front door opened and Julia walked in, shopping bags in hand. 

_Shit._

"Ben, you didn't tell me Jessica was coming around." She sounded delighted. 

Ben lent towards Leslie and whispered, "She extended her trip."

Leslie nodded, but he could see her chewing her lip again. She looked mad.

"Uh, yeah, she stopped in after work to see me but she has to head off again."

"Oh, that's a shame." Julia's face dropped, "I was going to say you should stay for dinner."

Suddenly, Leslie's face was flooded with a smile and she became that upbeat person Ben had met before he'd gotten her involved in his messy life. "I'm so sorry, Julia. I have to be up early tomorrow for a meeting. When do you fly out?" Leslie wandered over to Julia and gave her a hug. It seemed to come so naturally to her - being warm and friendly.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Oh, shoot. Well, I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." Leslie shot Ben a look that clarified that she definitely would not be seeing her again soon. "I'll see you later, honey."

Ben waved, hoping that his mother didn't pick up on the pointed way that she had said the word 'honey'. Leslie pulled the door shut behind her and Ben watched it for a minute. He looked down at his wallet and realised he still hadn't paid her back.

"I'm just so happy you two found each other, Benji." Julia yelled from the kitchen, "You're the luckiest man in Indiana."

Ben nodded in response even though she couldn't see him.

He wasn't, but he had a nagging feeling that if he were dating Leslie for real, he probably would be.


	3. Chapter 3

Leslie dug her toes into the sand below her, her hands clinging to the metal links of the swing she was sitting on. When things got too stressful, she'd come to Ramsett Park and swing in the dark. It was soothing and helped to clear her head. There were a couple of teenagers that lurked around this late, but they mostly kept to themselves.

"But what did he say? I need it word for word, Ann."

Sometimes Ann would join her if she wasn't working the night shift at the hospital. Leslie would workshop her work ideas with her, and Ann would tell Leslie hospital gossip.

"Well, he woke up but he was still pretty out of it from the anesthesia, so when he saw me he just started sobbing and then he  _told_ me I had to marry him."

Leslie giggled, "How romantic. I wish strangers would propose to me all the time."

"Trust me, you really don't." Ann passed Leslie a cookie. "So, what's up with you?"

Leslie took a bite of her cookie and looked out into the dark trees. She hadn't told Ann about the whole Ben thing yet. It had been a week since she'd shown up at his house, unannounced. She couldn't stop thinking about it - he must think she's completely crazy, knocking on his neighbour's doors until she found him. Ugh, she groaned just thinking about it.

"What is it?"

Leslie scrunched her face up and looked at Ann, "I met a guy."

Ann turned to her excitedly, "Oh my gosh Leslie, that's great."

"No, no, Ann, it's not. It's terrible."

"Oh." Ann's tone dropped. "I'm confused."

Leslie took a deep breath and turned back towards the dark trees, "I was heading into JJ's the other day and this guy - who I've never met before in my life - asks me to be his pretend girlfriend and have dinner with his mother. Which is insane. But I eventually agreed to do it -" She stole a glance at Ann's face, "And the dinner went fine, I guess, but I was having to lie the entire time and this guy - his name is Ben - was just so... so smug? It was infuriating, Ann. I ended up paying for dinner which is also insane - right?"

Ann nodded, trying to take in Leslie's long rush of words.

"Anyway, I told him how much he owed me but days passed and he didn't get in contact with me to pay me back. So, I found his house and I went round there and demanded -"

"Oh Leslie." Ann interrupted. "You're not the type to care about money stuff."

"I know. I just... this man is driving me crazy, Ann."

"Why?"

"What do you mean? I just told you the whole thing."

Ann took a bite of her own cookie and took a moment to figure out how to say it. "I mean, it doesn't seem like he's done anything that bad? You did _agree_ to pretend to be his girlfriend. And you love helping people. I mean, sure, this is crazy. But you've done crazier things to help someone out before. What's different about this guy?"

"I -" This is not what Leslie was expecting.

"Maybe you like him."

"Don't be ridiculous." Leslie narrowed her eyes at her best friend, "He just gets under my skin, that's all. And the money thing - it's just the principle."

Ann smirked, "If you say so."

"I do say so. Stop it. Stop smirking. You're reminding me of him right now."

Ann laughed. "Well, if you truly don't like this guy then you should just forget about him. It's not like you have any reason to see him again, right?"

"Yeah." Leslie smiled at Ann, "You're right. You always are. I'll just forget about him."

A comfortable silence fell over the pair. Ann gave Leslie another cookie. Home-baking was one of the perks of Ann coming to these swing sessions.

"You want me to tell you about the guy who burnt his leg hairs off?"

"I can't believe you haven't already."

 


	4. Chapter 4

Leslie really did try to forget about him.

And she succeeded for the most part. A couple of months had passed by and she only occasionally thought of him. She'd tried to find out what his phone number was once or twice, but she'd managed to stop and remind herself that he'd made no effort to contact her. Also - he was essentially still a complete stranger. A good-looking, entirely maddening complete stranger.

Ann had brought him up once.

"Did you ever hear anything from that fake girlfriend guy?"

Leslie had looked up from her lunch quickly, "Hm? Oh, no."

"That's a shame, he could have been the One."

Leslie had thrown a cherry tomato from the salad she wasn't enjoying at her best friend.

It was a pretty normal day at City Hall. Leslie had gone to a couple of meetings already and briefed the department on a few upcoming projects. She'd just settled in to write a lengthy proposal when April appeared in her office doorway.

"Hey Leslie, this guy is here."

"Who?" Leslie glanced up from her computer.

April had gone and Ben was standing in her place. He was wearing a business suit, and Leslie was annoyed to remember just how attractive he was. 

"Hey Leslie." He smiled at her sheepishly. 

Leslie stood up, a million thoughts racing through her mind. "Ben, hi. How are you?"

"I'm okay, yeah." Ben took a few steps into her office and Leslie motioned for him to take a seat in the chair next to her desk. She sat too. "I hope it's okay that I'm here at your work - I don't know the name of your street so this was the only way for me to find you." A mischievous grin tugged at his lips.

God, he'd been here for less than a minute and he was already pushing her buttons.

"Well, you found me." Leslie tried to smile at him, wondering if she could text Ann without him noticing. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

Leslie cringed - why would she have? 

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just got the impression that you didn't really want me to - anyway, you look... well. Healthy." Ben frowned, "Ugh, that came out weird. I mean, you look nice. Beautiful. Sorry - I'm nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" Leslie tried to ignore her heartbeat picking up. She was pretty sure if he was here to ask her out for real, she'd say yes, and she hated that. 

"I have another favour I need to ask you. A pretty big one."

_Oh._

Leslie narrowed her eyes at him. "Is your mother coming back?"

"Not exactly." Ben shifted in his seat, "She wants us to visit her for Christmas this year." He let the question hang in the air and watched Leslie's face closely. It seemed mostly composed but she didn't say anything, just waited for him to elaborate. "I tried a bunch of excuses to get out of it, but my mother is very persistent."

Leslie's heartbeat was picking up again, but for anger-related reasons this time. "Here's an excuse for you - tell her that we broke up!" She couldn't believe he hadn't already.

"I was going to, I really was. But she loved you so much and she still talks about you all the time. I just feel like it will break her heart if I tell her we've broken up. Please, Leslie. I'll do anything."

Leslie stood up, trying to take this whole situation in rationally. She was glad Tom was at lunch, because she'd never hear the end of this otherwise. She started pacing back and forth behind her desk.

"This is ridiculous, Ben - you do realise that? And how does this even work, long-term? She shows up in Pawnee again and I have to pretend that we're living together? Are we going to have a fake wedding? Fake children? Are we going to fake grow old together? I mean -" Her brain couldn't stop.

"I don't know, I'll figure something out before all of that." Ben sighed and changed his tone, "Leslie, I really need this."

Leslie sat back down and looked at his face. It was pleading, desperate, and she had to fight the overwhelming urge to comfort him. She checked the date on her computer screen. November 26th. There was no way she could just casually head to Minnesota in less than a month and pretend to be Ben's girlfriend for the whole holidays. His entire family would be there. She barely knew anything about this man. This was too much, even for Leslie. She bit her lip while he waited for her to say something.

"I'm really sorry, Ben. I wish I could help you, but I have my own family and friends I need to spend Christmas with. It's just... too much to ask of me."

He nodded, "Well, here's my card just in case you change your mind."

Leslie watched him leave, holding his business card between her fingers. She felt bad for him, she really did, but he had just turned up here after months of radio silence to ask her the biggest favour she'd ever been asked in her life. She'd made the right choice. He was just going to have to tell his mother that they'd broken up.

She slipped his card into her top desk drawer and turned back to the proposal that was waiting to be written. Then she tried to find a way to focus on it and not him.

 

* * *

 

Leslie managed to hold off calling Ann until the proposal was finished.

"Hey Les, I'm just driving home from work. What's up?" She was kind of yelling because her phone was on speaker.

Leslie leaned back in her chair, hesitating about telling her what had happened. She'd probably admit that she thought Ben had shown up to ask her on a date, and all she got instead was another invitation to be his fake girlfriend. It was too embarrassing.

"What are you doing for Christmas this year?" She asked instead.

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you. Kate and I are going to my parents' place. They want to meet her." There was a clattering noise - Leslie assumed she'd dropped the phone going around a corner. "Sorry."

"I'm going to buy you one of those phone holders for your car."

Leslie should have known - this was the first year Ann had a serious girlfriend during the holidays. Of course she'd be spending it with her.

"So, why were you asking about Christmas?" Ann asked. Leslie heard the ignition turn off and listened as she juggled her phone and keys. She sounded a little breathless when she returned, "What do you have planned?"

Leslie looked out of her window into the courtyard, and saw April sitting on Andy's lap. He was holding a giant sandwich and they were laughing about something, and it was so sweet Leslie thought she might cry.

"Nothing yet. I'll probably spend it with my mother."

"Well, that'll be nice, right? She has that new boyfriend, the one that doesn't hit on you."

That was true, at least. She swiveled her chair away from the window.

"Oh boy, it feels like I'm the only one that's going to be alone on Christmas this year."

"Oh Leslie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Why don't you come and spend it with Kate and I?"

Leslie pictured that for a second and didn't know what would be worse - spending the holidays with a man she barely knows but is annoyingly attracted to, or third-wheeling her best friends' Christmas.

"Ben came to visit me today. In my office."

"What?" Ann almost shouted, "What happened?"

Leslie sighed, "I thought maybe he'd come to ask me out on a real date. But it turns out he just wants me to go with him to Minnesota for Christmas and pretend to be his girlfriend in front of his whole family."

Ann was quiet for a moment, then, "I knew you liked him."

"I don't." Leslie was indignant.

"Sure. Well, what did you say?"

"I said no, of course! He basically begged me, but there's no way I can pull that off." Leslie started to chew her lip. It was becoming a nervous habit.

"Well, I think that's definitely the rational thing to do, Les. You want me to bring some wine over to yours tonight and we can catch up on Project Runway?"

Leslie smiled, "That sounds nice."

She hung up and felt a wave of relief. If Ann thought she'd made the right choice, then she knew she had. Leslie trusted Ann on all things. 

It didn't stop the nagging feeling in her heart, though.


	5. Chapter 5

Leslie took a deep breath.

She hated that she was in her thirties and still felt on edge around her mother most of the time. She had this overwhelming need to impress her. She'd recently complimented one of Leslie's blouses, so she'd worn it around her every time they saw one another, until Marlene had asked if her washing machine was broken. She knocked on her office door.

"Come in."

Leslie pushed it open and smiled widely. Her mother seemed relaxed - or as relaxed as Marlene could ever really be with such an important job.

"Oh, Leslie. What a _pleasant_ surprise."

Should she have called ahead?

"Hi, Mom." She sat down in front of her and handed her one of the coffees she'd brought with her. "I know you're busy but I just wanted to ask you what we had planned for Christmas this year."

Marlene looked at her, "Oh, honey. Did I forget to tell you?"

"What?" Leslie said, her heart sinking.

"Greg and I are going on a holiday cruise over Christmas to escape all of the palaver. I thought I had mentioned it to you?" Her phone started ringing.

"No, you didn't." Leslie tried not to sound disappointed, but her cheeks were burning red.

"I just have to take this."

Leslie looked at the framed photograph of a young her on Marlene's office wall. It felt kind of like a performance. She looked away. Maybe Ron would spend Christmas with her? She was sure she could bribe April and Andy into letting her come over if she offered to cook dinner, but then she'd probably have to watch them making out the whole time. Her mother's business voice was ringing in her ears - she was laughing smoothly and almost flirting with whoever was on the line. Leslie couldn't believe she was going to leave her only daughter alone for the holidays. The more she thought about it, the more defensive she became.

"Sorry about that, Rick from finances was just hassling me about something. What were we talking about?" Marlene shuffled some papers around her desk, looking for something.

"You going on a cruise, Christmas With the Kranks-style."

"Honey, you know I don't understand your pop culture references." She finally found what she was looking for and started writing on it. "You'll be okay for Christmas though, I assume? You've got loads of friends and what-not."

Something overcame Leslie in a hot flood. She couldn't stop herself - the words were falling out of her mouth before she even really had a chance to realise what she was saying. "Well, I'll probably be spending Christmas with my new boyfriend anyway, so I should be fine. Better than fine, actually. Fantastic. Superb, even."

That got Marlene's attention. She looked up from her papers and scanned Leslie's face.

"New boyfriend? What's his name?"

"Ben. He's really sweet." Okay, she was starting to understand how Ben had gotten himself into this situation. The lies were coming so easily to her. "You'd love him, actually. It's a shame we can't all spend Christmas together."

Marlene smiled - a smile that Leslie was instantly weary of - before cocking her head to the side. "Well, we should have a dinner together before I leave, then."

_Shit._

She tried to sound confident, "Sure, that would be lovely."

"How about this Friday?"

"Perfect." She gave her mother a tight smile. They were both very aware that Marlene was calling her bluff. It just made Leslie want to prove her wrong even more.

"Thanks for the coffee." Marlene turned her attention back to her paperwork.

Leslie realised that was her cue to leave. She made her way back to her own office, cursing herself in her head. Sure, she was hurt that her mother was leaving her alone for Christmas but that didn't mean she needed to do the whole fake boyfriend thing. She was just as bad as Ben.

Oh God - Ben.

She wondered momentarily if her mother would recognise Ron or Tom or even Andy. No, she'd met them all. There was that guy she'd gone on a date with a couple of weeks back who had asked to see her feet five minutes in - maybe he'd be willing to pretend to be her boyfriend? No, he was too creepy. She arrived back at her desk, resigned. She knew what she had to do.

She pulled Ben's card out of her top drawer.

 

* * *

 

 

She sent Tom out on an errand and cleared her throat. This was going to be horrible. She dialed his number into her mobile and waited. He picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hello, Ben Wyatt speaking."

Leslie found herself smiling at the sound of his voice and it suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks: Ann was right - she did like him. Dammit, that complicated things.

"Hey, Ben. It's Leslie here. Leslie Knope from the Parks and Recreation Department."

"Oh, hey. Have you changed your mind?" He sounded hopeful.

"No, sorry."

"Oh, what can I do for you, then?"

Leslie took a deep breath and swallowed her pride.

"I need to ask a favour."


	6. Chapter 6

JJ's Diner was especially busy for a Wednesday night. It was bustling with families, and there was what seemed to be a sports team in the corner causing an absolute ruckus. Ben was feeling a little prickly after a bad day at work. He'd gotten here a little earlier than what they'd agreed on, but he'd managed to grab the last free booth and ordered a coffee to drink while he waited for Leslie. 

He'd just finished his first cup when he noticed her blonde curls bobbing in through the front door. He watched her make his way to him - stopping off to have a quick chat with a family she obviously knew - before sliding in opposite him.

"Hi." She smiled at him and for the first time, it felt warm.

"Hi." He smiled back just as warmly.

There was no denying that she was beautiful - he'd known that since the second he first saw her. But there was something about her tonight that made everything shift. He couldn't help but study her rather than his menu. She looked up and caught him staring, so he quickly dropped his eyes.

"Do you know what you're getting?" She asked.

Ben met her gaze once more, "Yeah, I think I'll just get the Caesar salad."

She looked at him in disbelief, "You're ordering a salad?"

"Is that bad?"

"I think this is the most I've ever disliked you." But she chuckled afterwards, so she didn't really mean it. At least he hoped she didn't. She called the waitress over, placed their orders and then turned to him, very matter-of-fact.

"Well, thanks for meeting me here. I'm going to hate every second of asking you this, and please don't gloat -" She pointed her finger at him, but there was still a warmth behind it. "But... I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend."

Well, that was not what he was expecting. There was literally nothing he could do to stop the grin that spread across his face.

"I said don't gloat." She warned.

Ben raised his hands in defense, "I promise I won't." He was trying not to laugh, "So the tables have turned?"

"Ugh." Leslie slumped against her seat. "My mother is leaving me alone this Christmas to go gallivanting around Greece with her boyfriend, so I said that I had a new boyfriend who I was spending Christmas with instead to seem less pathetic."

Ben perked up, "Does this mean you  _are_ coming to Minnesota with me?"

Leslie looked at him, confused. "Still no. I just need you to have dinner with my mother. She's trying to call my bluff, which - you know -  _is_ a bluff, but I have to prove her wrong."

Their meals arrived. Ben raised his eyebrows at the plate of waffles she'd ordered for  _dinner._ If she noticed, she didn't comment on it - maybe this was normal for her.

"So?" She asked, hopeful, a bit of whipped cream on her top lip. Ben almost reached out to wipe it off, but that seemed like every corny rom-com he'd ever seen, so he refrained and just told her instead.

"And I'll do the dinner if you do Christmas." He took a bite of his salad.

She waved a waffle at him, "That's not how it works. You already owe me one, remember?" 

Dammit, she did have a point.

"Okay, I'll do it."

Her face lit up, and it washed over Ben in a way he wasn't familiar with. It suddenly felt very important that he always make her that happy.

"Thank you!" She reached down into her bag and pulled out a large binder. "Here - you'll need this." 

He took it from her and looked at the front cover. It was titled, 'Everything You Need To Know About Me To Convincingly Pretend To Be My Boyfriend'.

"It's very thorough." He mused, flicking through the pages.

She blushed a little, "Sorry - my mother is pretty tough, so I thought we should prepare a little."

"No, no, it's good. I'll read it."

They fell into a comfortable enough silence while they finished their meals. They split the bill - he'd tried to pay but she'd insisted - and then they walked to the parking lot. She had her hands in the pockets of her blazer, and she turned to him.

"Well, I guess this is good - evens the playing field, or whatever. I'll see you on Friday."

"Yeah." He nodded, and she waved at him as she got into her car.

The only problem was, the playing field was not even. He was desperately trying to ignore the fact that he was starting to have feelings for her - real feelings - while she was only just starting to warm up to him because she needed something from him.

He looked down at the binder in his hands and a small smile found its way onto his face. She'd put a little picture of herself in a hard-hat on the cover. She was standing in a park and she was beaming, and he noted how much it suited her - being surrounded by nature.

Oh no. This whole thing was going to get tricky, he just knew it. 

 


End file.
